Ackman’s Herbalife Attacks: Will Tuesday’s Be the Final ‘Deathblow’, Finally?

Will Bill Ackman, once again, cry wolf on Herbalife, the nutritional supplement company that he’s called a massive pyramid scheme? Or will he actually deliver the “deathblow” to Herbalife that he has been threatening for the better part of 19 months?

The founder of the hedge-fund Pershing Square Capital Management LLC plans to deliver what he calls “the most important presentation of his life” Tuesday on Herbalife in midtown Manhattan. Mr. Ackman has devoted dozens of hours and roughly 1000 slides to slamming Herbalife’s business model since he announced his $1 billion short bet against the company in late 2012. You can read through them here: http://www.factsaboutherbalife.com/resource-library/

So far he has failed to deliver a knockout punch. In fact, the stock is up roughly 22% from where it traded before Mr. Ackman’s initial presentation on the company in December 2012.

His pronouncements on CNBC about Tuesday’s presentation did rattle investors Monday. The stock traded down more than 11%.

While it’s unclear exactly what Mr. Ackman has on Herbalife now, here’s a look back on his presentations and punches against Herbalife:

Jan. 10, 2013: Herbalife hosts an investor meeting in New York. Herbalife executives defended the company’s record. Mr. Ackman quickly responded saying he would not back down from his fight against the company.

Jan. 16, 2013: The Wall Street Journal reports that Mr. Ackman’s nemesis Carl Icahn bought a small position in Herbalife.

Jan. 25, 2013: After Carl Icahn reportedly takes a position in Herbalife, he and Mr. Ackman battle it out in an epic smack-talking fest live CNBC. Mr. Icahn won’t discuss whether or not he’s purchased shares of Herbalife.

Oct. 2, 2013: Mr. Ackman cuts his risk on Herbalife. In a letter to investors, Mr. Ackman said he restructured his bet against Herbalife to protect against paper losses. Pershing Square, he said, cut its short equity position and replaced it with derivatives.

Nov. 22, 2013: Mr. Ackman vows to take his Herbalife bet “to the end of the earth” during an interview with Bloomberg Television. That came after Mr. Ackman delivered a presentation on Herbalife (accompanied by a 62-page presentation), which he called ”Robin Hood in Reverse,” at the Robin Hood investor conference in New York.

Dec. 23, 2013: Mr. Ackman raises new allegations about Herbalife’s business model, saying that its distributors sell the names of prospects to salespeople. He also promised to reveal more about the company in 2014.

April 28, 2014: Pershing Square airs a 15-minute documentary that it commissioned showing alleged victims of what Mr. Ackman has described as Herbalife’s pyramid scheme.

Will Mr. Ackman deliver on his promise? MoneyBeat will be there to find out.